


just add mistletoe

by orphan_account



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Awkward Nebula, F/F, Ficlet, Fluff, Getting Together, Halloween, Kissing, Mistletoe, Presents, Snippets, bugborg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-11-26 22:42:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20937956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: "'What is it?', she asks, voice the same as it had been the first time Nebula shared her rations with her. She holds the ornament up to the light, and an intricate dalliance of orange, black, and green blossoms throughout the room. If possible, her eyes grow even wider, and her antennae bob, glowing a pleasant yellow.'It’s like mistletoe', Nebula says, feeling her cheek grow warm with heat. She shifts, the bed dipping as she tugs her legs closer to her. She shrugs, still avoiding her gaze, and bites her lip. 'You know. That...that festive thing from the other Terran holiday.'"





	just add mistletoe

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick little thing. I might write more for them in the future, but I really wanted to do something Halloween-themed in the meantime.

When she first opens her fist and reveals the ornament lying within her grasp, Mantis looks confused. 

To be fair, it’s not often that Nebula gives her presents, and the ornament is a bit of a weird one, but it makes Nebula nervous all the same. She fights back the urge to squirm, averting her gaze to the shitty jack-o-lantern Peter carved out of a mutated yaro gourd. From where she sits on her knees, Mantis leans closer, eyes that look like dead galaxies wide and curious as she pulls the stringy thing from Nebula’s hand.

“What is it?”, she asks, voice the same as it had been the first time Nebula shared her rations with her. She holds the ornament up to the light, and an intricate dalliance of orange, black, and green blossoms throughout the room. If possible, her eyes grow even wider, and her antennae bob, glowing a pleasant yellow. 

“It’s like mistletoe”, Nebula says, feeling her cheek grow warm with heat. She shifts, the bed dipping as she tugs her legs closer to her. She shrugs, still avoiding her gaze, and bites her lip. “You know. That...that festive thing from the other Terran holiday.”

She saw Peter bestowing it upon Gamora towards the end of Terra’s last rotation. Gamora had stared at it unimpressedly but kissed him nonetheless, and they laughed like children afterwards, cuddling before the warmth of the engine. Nebula doesn’t expect the same reaction because her “mistletoe” is rather pathetic: it’s made of orange lace with charms of pumpkins and witch hats and candy corn. She’d be surprised if Mantis liked it at all but...it’d seemed like a good idea at the time, and Peter had assured her it was.

“Mistletoe”, Mantis says, surprising Nebula as she ties the ornament around her wrist. “No one’s ever given me a mistletoe before.” With that, she beams wide and wiggles her eyebrows. “Does this mean you like me?”   
Nebula purses her lips and swallows. From the corridor, she can hear the Linus and Lucy theme playing as Rocket and Groot rewatch that silly holiday special yet again. She forces herself to listen to the mountains and valleys in the song, calming herself in the simplicity of its composure. “Yes.”

When Mantis smiles, she does so along with a sudden expulsion of pure  _ joy _ . A snort escapes Nebula before she can help it, spilling over into uncontrollable peals of laughter, and then Mantis is laughing along right with her.

“I like you, too”, Mantis says. She crawls closer, as close as she knows Nebula is comfortable with. Her cheeks glow bright red as she looks down at her mistletoe and hums. “My little cloud.”

Nebula presses her lips together to hide her smile. She places her hand, her flesh one, over Mantis’s and just revels in the feel of her skin against her own. Then Mantis raises her other hand above their heads, her mistletoe still glittering in the artificial light that emits from the ceiling. 

They kiss, and their bodies become ensheathed in prismatic colors.

When they pull away, Nebula finds she and Mantis have never felt quite as close. 


End file.
